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Author Topic: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!  (Read 35854 times)

Kornel Kisielewicz

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Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« on: January 04, 2007, 15:32 »

Once I add the daycount (and the campaign) mode, there will be a need to add more monsters. This is no easy task, because I wan't them to be recognizable and different from each other (I think DoomRL manages that almost fine). Also I would like to keep the number of ranged opponents low. So please post your ideas! It's not the stats and the names that are important here, but the way the monster will differ from the others!

Help me brainstorm :)
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Getix

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2007, 16:39 »

Monsters that can make a kind of.. "low level teleportation" but random..  3-4 tiles.. they are in front of you, then behind.. and so on.




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TFoN

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2007, 09:08 »

I think a monster symbol should be attached to each suggestion, based on anything the writer considers important - e.g. 'n' for Getix's monster because RL players will affiliate that with a NetHack nymph, or for ninja, jumping around too fast to see, which seems more related to the theme.


As someone who hasn't watched Berzerk!, should I be giving ideas anyway?

Kornel Kisielewicz

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2007, 09:20 »

Berzerk! is a 1980 drama, we're talking about the Berserk Anime/Manga :P. And yes, your ideas are welcome -> just remember that all the enemies are demonic. And it's not the "kind" of enemies I have problems, it's the unique abilities that I have problems with -- ergo -> just give me an "idea" for monster behaviour/abilities and I'll make the monster ^_^.
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Adral

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2007, 09:40 »

First I'll try to do a monster template for everyone to use, so at least we have some kind of standarization. Kornel, feel free to get another standard profile running if you don't like mine:
Code: [Select]
---Monster template---
Name:

Strength:
Dexterity:
Speed:

Attack type:

Special Abilities:

Behaviour:

-----------------------

Use adjectives when referring to Strength, Dexterity and Speed, not numbers. I think it's Kornel who should set up all the values as he feels like putting.

I suggest using this adjective table, from worst to best, blatantly stolen from Fudge (the best RPG system EVAR)

Abysmal -> Terrible -> Poor -> Mediocre -> Fair -> Good -> Great -> Superb -> Legendary

Fair is what a normal human would have for that stat.

On Special Abilites, and Behaviour, just try to describe them the better you can.

Ok, so here goes my first try at a character:

Code: [Select]
---Monster template---
Name: Imp (?)

Strength: Poor
Dexterity: Good
Speed: Great

Attack type: Melee

Special Abilities: Flies over terrain. Perhaps uses a burning attack.

Behaviour: Hits the player and goes back out of his melee range whenever possible. Hit and run tactics. Tries to end up in open terrain to avoid being cornered.

-----------------------
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TFoN

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2007, 15:46 »

Ok! :P
And I've never heard of a 1980 drama called Berzerk! - any details?


Something massive with a stomp attack = slows player down when nearby.
Using Adrals template (I assume Dexterity's more of a hit rate/attack speed?) I'd say,

Name: Behemoth

Strength: superb
Dexterity: good
Speed: poor

Attack type: melee

Special abilities: ^, and possibly an "ability" preventing knocking the player back (simulating a downward smash or bite attack)

Behaviour: simple track-the-dot - goes right for you. He's too slow for games and too strong to hold back. Obviously, terrain won't be a problem.

---

Name: Shrieker

Strength: fair
Dexterity: great
Speed: great

Attack: melee

Special abilities: invisible more than a tile away, but shrieks are heard. Possibly has an unnerving effect (no ranged attacks, high miss rate) when not berserking. Regeneration?

Behaviour: violent straight-forward attack, suddenly retreats after a few hits and attacks from another direction. If made weaker it could attack in bands, for a very confusing effect considering you wouldn't know when you're done with them.

---

Name: Swolen

Strength: good
Dexterity: fair
Speed: poor

Attack type: melee

Special abilities: cannon fodder! Stronger and slower than beasts. Maybe stench for a slight energy drain when near.

Behaviour: simple.

---

Name: Sporewhore

Inspired by the Starcraft Queen and a casual Succubus, I'm not sure what to make of it, only that it will have "minions" attacking and retreating, yeah, like a SC Carrier :) . Seems more like a DC-comics villain name than a good monster race, though, so maybe it should be a sarcastic boss' nick.

---

I suggest only Kornel looks at this one, in case it's included.
I also suggest it is edited out by him if that might happen.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Adral

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2007, 15:57 »

I assume Dexterity's more of a hit rate/attack speed?

Yep, should have cleared that one out, my fault. I was thinking along the lines of:

* Strength being the damage potential of the monster
* Dexterity being the hit ratio/hit speed
* Speed being the movement speed per se

The other things I think they are pretty self-explanatory, but ask out if you don't know what's something supposed to be :).

Another one for the pack:

Quote from: Template
---Monster template---
Name: Reaper

Strength: Great
Dexterity: Good
Speed: Poor

Attack type: Melee, but special.

Special Abilities: Attacks with a demonic scythe. Reaches up to 2 squares from his current position, so it's a kind of "ranged melee" attack. The attack has a chance of lowering your berserk rage, as it infounds you with hellish fear.

Behaviour: Slowly comes for you, trying to get lesser demons before you so you can't attack him in sight. When in range, gets out of the barrier and cuts you with his scythe.

Description: Just like the Death everyone expects: black robe, skeletal, and with a large scythe.
-----------------------

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Supernaut

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2007, 17:07 »

I would add the endurance to your template. That way you can create weak but durable monsters.
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Adral

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2007, 02:05 »

I would add the endurance to your template. That way you can create weak but durable monsters.

It's a nice idea, although maybe Kornel wants to specify how much hit points should a monster have based on balance. If he thinks we're better adding Endurance too, I'll edit my previous posts :)
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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2007, 10:33 »

Here're a few more:


Name: Warlord (I'm sure there's a better name possible)

Strength: great
Dexterity: good
Speed: fair

Attack type: melee

Special abilities: sends nearby creatures into a raging state, with higher attack/damage/damage reduction but a lower dodge rate.

Behaviour: mostly charges, to keep the the char within the monster-rage effective area.

---

Name: Deathknight (there HAS to be better name for this one)

Strength: great
Dexterity: fair
Speed: mediocre

Attack type: melee/ranged

Special abilities: corrosive aura causes rapid decomposition of nearby matter, destroying terrain and creating a poison-fog effect which rises from corpses and to a lesser degree from vegetation.

Behaviour: prefers corpses in its wake to make the best of its aura, but other than that goes straight for the char.

---

Name: Deweller past the Void

Strength: mediocre
Dexterity: great
Speed: superb

Attack type: none

Special ability: attack teleports char and DptV randomly (but to the same location), causing distortion damage and massive energy drain to the char.

Behaviour: direct attack.

---

Name: Whiteworm [swarm]

Strength: mediocre
Dexterity: great (swarms are hard to hit/evade. Otherwise, it should be lower)
Speed: poor

Attack type: melee

Special abilities: consumes corpses and multiplies

Behaviour: goes for corpses rather than the char, but will not retreat. Description assumes a swarm of rat-sized creatures.

---

Name: Blackworm

Strength: good
Dexterity: good
Speed: mediocre

Attack type: melee, and see below

Special abilities: consumes living monsters; it then animates it into a skeleton (see below) and gains charges for two abilities - it can animate dead (2-3 corpses per charge) into skeletons, with lower stats but with higher damage and knockback reduction, and it can, with a seperate counter, launch acid/poison projectiles. It will not consume monsters more powerful than it, and can only animate one of those per charge.

Behaviour: keeps away and uses abilities. Will fight only as last resort.

Adral

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2007, 11:01 »

Heh, TFoN is more inspired than me:P

I'll throw another in:

Name: Winged Demon (horrible name, I know)

Strength: fair
Dexterity: great
Speed: good

Attack type: melee, but special

Special Abilities: Doesn't attack by "bumping" into the character, attacks by flying over him and hiiting with *insert nasty appendage*. Can lead to serious disorienting, as one turn he's on your left and next he's on the opposite side. Flies.

Behaviour: Totally vicious. Comes right down for the character and flies over him repeatedly until he gets him down.

-----------------------

Name: Bloodhunter

Strength: fair
Dexterity: mediocre
Speed: fair

Attack type: Melee and ranged.

Special Abilities: Can suck blood from terrain/corpses, digests it, and spits it to the player. Takes some time to ready the attack. The blood will cause more pain than damage -> Perhaps it doesn't damage the character much but it hurts and distracts, and it's specially sticky.

Behaviour: If there are blood/corpses available, will go for them and will suck them to use his special ability. Otherwise tries to run from the character, but can attack melee if he finds himself without any retreat path available.

-----------------------

Name: (?)

Strength: poor
Dexterity: good
Speed: superb

Attack type: Melee.

Special Abilities: Steals things from @. To recover them you must kill him so he drops them. Doesn't cause damage when stealing.

Behaviour: Acts as a servant for greater demons. Attacks in packs, steals and goes near his master (which should be hard to kill)

-----------------------
« Last Edit: January 06, 2007, 11:19 by Adral »
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TFoN

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #11 on: January 06, 2007, 11:34 »

Heh, TFoN is more inspired than me:P

Thanks ^^
I've just been waiting for an opportunity like this one, to let loose some of these ideas :)



While I'm at it,

Name: Kinslayer

Strength: great
Dexterity: good
Speed: good, but see below

Attack type: melee

Special abilities: mimics a common monster type, moving at that monster's rate or at its original rate, whichever's slower. It causes, ofcourse, more damage than expected. It does not avoid causing knockback - at that range it's too bloodthirsty to hold back. It's possible it will mimic by eating a monster, therefore it will most likely only mimic monsters it can catch up to (preventing noticable speed quirks), and certainly only a monster that may spawn at that time.

Behaviour: like mimiced monster, to the best of its ability. It does not retreat, unless eating is enabled, in which case it will retreat if seen "naked", and attack from a different direction once mimicing.

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #12 on: January 10, 2007, 12:56 »

Another one, albeit not original at all

Name: Skeleton (I told you it wasn't original :P)

Strength: good/fair
Dexterity: terrible/poor
Speed: mediocre at best

Attack type: melee (could have a ranged variant)

Special abilities: You must kill them with hard-hitting weapons. For example, the crossbow has no effect on them (the bolts just stick out) and the knives have little impact. Especially vulnerable against bombs and cannon, though, as they explode to bits. The normal sword, being so huge, deals normal damage to them.

Behaviour: They come in packs of several skeletons. Go at you slowly but unpaused, have little to no intelligence. Typical cannon fodder.

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Kornel, damn you for showing me Berserk. Now I'm addicted to that manga!
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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #13 on: January 11, 2007, 09:45 »

If there're skeletons, then I suggest a lich-like monster, which aside from also being pierce-immune (still boney :P ) can reanimate fallen skeletons.


In context, I also suggest this:

Name: Spinedragoon

Description (so you see what I have in mind, and the source of the name):
Once assembled (see below), looks a little like a bone wyrm. Before that, like a group of untypically synchronised skeletons, and before that it looks like a thin mist, if it is seen at all.
In its first cycle, it floats around searching for fallen skeletons, taking their forms into into itself.
This brings it to its second cycle, where it leads several formerly animated skeletons in search of more. It keeps them looking like skeletons in order to avoid attracting attention (as far as that goes for the walking dead, anyway) while still weak compared to its potential.
It enters its last cycle once it has found enough matter from which to create its corporeal manifestation, and after entering a brief trance-like state where the bone-matter asserts itself into place, it takes on a new form - that of a huge, serpentine, wyrm-like mass of bones, sometimes with a "rider" at the "shoulders", one looking much like a hellish, bone-armor clad knight, fused at the waist to the rest of the beast.
Although it continues to collect bones into itself for more power, this is the final basic form it takes.
Although the "spirit" is the main force behind this beat, the bone matter, besides being a platform of its power, is also a source of it - the more bones, the more powerful, conscious and sensorily aware it is. Therefore, while it may carry the bones, and these may encumbre it in the second cycle due to the "mental" strain induced by the act, by the third cycle the power gained outweighs that lost, and it carries itself much better than ever before.
It is important to note that once the spirit form begins binding to skeletons, this cannot be reversed, and if all of them are destroyed a second time, the spirit form will die.

Strength: [cycle] 1 - none; 2 - as per skeletons; 3 - superb
Dexterity: 1 - legendary; 2 and 3 - good/great
Speed: 1 - good; 2 - fair; 3 - great

Attack type: melee. 3rd form might have a ranged "unholy blast" type of attack, related to its excess power (so it possibly drains the Spinedragoon's bonus HPs, see below).

Special abilities: see above. I assume mass collected in the final form will add to HPs.

Behaviour: 1 and 2 - tries to stay out of trouble, and collect bones. The first cycle may be attackless, but the second can use skeletons as they are (though likely with better stats). If Liches are included, or any other animating being, it will try to make it look as if the rising skeletons are the other's work, to avoid needless attention. It may even stop collection temporarily if the raising being's killed.
I'm not sure how many skeletons would be needed for the final cycle - too few, and it will be overpowered, but too many and the skeleton band'll be difficult to manage realistically. Maybe an inbetween form could be added, where there are many skeletons included, but not enough for the last cycle.
3 - nemesis incarnate, acts directly and intelligently to slay the char.

Kornel Kisielewicz

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Re: Request for Help : Monsters Needed!
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2007, 10:27 »

I just remind you that monster ideas are always welcome ^_^
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